Wizardry works from the inside out.
There, I've said it. That's one of the biggest Wizard secrets there is. Used to be they'd lock you in a crystal cave for telling anybody that one. Or burn you at the stake. But there you have it, right up front for everyone to see.

Wizardry works from the inside out.
Bet you don't know what it means, though. I feel funny coming right out and explaining, but that's what I'm going to do. Here goes . . .

If you want to work magic-real magic, not conjuring or any other sort of tricks-you have to look inside your head. Even when you're using things like wands or spells or secret symbols, the magic starts between your ears.

Try it now. Sit down, close your eyes, and find out what's in your head.

Dark, isn't it?

And noisy. You keep chattering to yourself. Yes, you do. All the time. Every minute of your waking day it's talk, talk, talk, talk, chitter, chatter, chatter. We'll have to do something about that later, but first I want you to do something about the dark. I want you to imagine a bright light.

Now notice a couple of things.

The first is that it isn't dark inside your head anymore. You've made it light. You've redecorated the inside of your head.

The second is that you have control of what goes on in there. You just switched on a light. You can switch it off again as easily. Inside your head, you can do anything you want. That's what I mean by control.

Let's try using a bit of that control now. Instead of just imagining a bright light, I want you to imagine a country scene: woods, hills, grass, a stream, happy cows-all that nonsense.

Not difficult, was it? Not difficult at all. Even though there's a lot more to imagine in a country scene than there is in a bright light, you did it just as easily. I expect that's because you've already had a lot of practice daydreaming.
(Oh, yes, I know all about your daydreaming, too. And I know the sort of things you daydream about. Disgraceful. Quite disgraceful.)

But let me tell you what you're doing now isn't just daydreaming. It's controlled daydreaming and there's a huge difference. Here comes the next big secret of Wizardry:

If you take control of what goes on inside your head, you take control of what goes on outside it.
Sounds really easy, doesn't it? Makes you wonder why everybody isn't a Wizard, doesn't it? Well, it's not easy! Just try this:

Get a watch to time yourself, then stop thinking. See how long you can go without a single thought.

Ha-ha! What did you manage? Twenty minutes? Ten? Five? Not even a minute? You're very lucky if you can even go ten seconds without thinking, unless you've trained yourself. You sit there with your mind a blank, then you think "Hey, I'm not thinking!" Splat! You just started thinking again.

Which brings me to the final secret of Wizardry: You get control of what's inside your head the
same way you get to Carnegie Hall. You know how you get to Carnegie Hall? Of course you
do-practice! You'll have lots of opportunities to practice stuff inside your head while you're training as a Wizard.

Okay, that's enough theory for the minute. Let's get to something more exciting. Do the task that's set for this lesson--it'll take you all of about eight seconds. I believe in breaking in young Wizards gradually-then I'll tell you how to find your secret Wizard Name.

TASK FOR LESSON ONE
Write the three secrets of Wizardry into your Wizard's Journal, then see if you can fly a broomstick. ( Just kidding about the broomstick.)

Lesson Two:
The Secret Name

Every Wizard has a secret name.
Not many people know that, because Wizards are good at keeping secrets. It's true all the same. When you meet a Wizard, he'll only ever introduce himself by his outer name, never his secret name. Even when two Wizards know each other, they never-ever-tell each other their secret names. There's a very good reason. Anybody who knows your secret name has a special power over you. You'll see why in a minute.

Before I tell you how to find your secret name, I want to tell you something very, very important. Nobody can find your secret name for you. You have to find it for yourself.

You need to know that because there are people around who claim they have the power to give you your secret name. Or sell you your secret name as if it were a pound of butter. If you ever meet people like that, give them a mysterious smile and go on your way.

Here's how to find your secret name.
First, know you can take as much time as you need to do this. In fact, know that you should take as much time as you need to do this. The Quest for Your Secret Name can take just a few minutes, but it can just as easily take weeks or months. Don't get hung up about the time. Discovering your secret name is one of the most important bits of Wizardry you will ever undertake. So treat it seriously and take as much time as you need.

Now sit in your room or take a walk on the beach or whatever you do when you want to be alone . . . and do some heavy thinking about yourself.

Try to find out who and what you really are. Try to figure what you really want to do. See if you can dig down deep inside yourself until you find the core, the one thing that expresses your deepest belief, your strongest insight about yourself or the world. Find the words that most clearly describe what makes you--you!

Be honest with yourself. You're not going to tell anybody what you find: not your mother, your father, your sisters, your brothers, your teachers, or your friends. You're not going to tell me or any of your fellow Wizards. So there's absolutely nobody for you to impress and nothing you need feel ashamed about. You are who you are and that's what you're trying to find.

When you get to that deep hidden core that best expresses
who you are, create a motto. If you're happy with what you found, you can have the motto express it. If you aren't, then the motto should express your determination about what you hope to become.

For example, if you find you're the sort of person who values honesty above everything else, you might have a motto that says Honesty Is My Life. Then again, you might discover you're a shy sort--many Wizards are. Since it seems a bit silly to have a motto like The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth If That's All Right with Everybody Else, you might like to turn it into an
aspiration: Courage Will Be My Companion or something of that sort.

Here are a few secret mottoes of real Wizards. (They're all dead now, so I can tell them to you.)

Royal Is My Race
With God As My Shield
I Shall Endure

Nice ring to them, isn't there? See if you can create a motto with that sort of noble feel. But here's the thing. Never, never tell anybody-and I mean anybody-your motto, because your motto is your secret name. Don't even write it down. If you have to write something down, just write the
initials. RIMR (Royal Is My Race). WGAMS (With God As My Shield). Better still, translate the motto into another language and write down the initials of that.

For example, if you're a sort of Napoleon character and you've decided the motto that best expresses who you are is I'll Beat the Lot of You, your motto initials don't have to be IBTLOY. You could translate it into Latin-Omnia Vinces, "I will overcome everything"--and just have the initials OV.

Got the hang of it? Good. Now off you go and discover your secret name.

Are you superstitious? Many people are. You may be superstitious without even realizing it. Think about your own personal habits; do you have a "good luck charm?" Maybe it's a rabbit's foot, a shiny penny, or a photo of a loved one.
There are reasons people are superstitious, many of which may not always seem logical. They may be more than a... read this article